Green Bay Packers lose to Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38-28

Nov. 8, 2009

Packers cornerback Charles Woodson (21) and linebacker Nick Barnett (56) dejectedly walk off the field after their 38-28 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., on Sunday. Evan Siegle/Press-Gazette

Favored by 10 points against a winless team that had a rookie quarterback making his first NFL start, the Green Bay Packers looked assured of heading into the second half of the 2009 season with a winning record.

Instead, the seemingly unthinkable happened on Sunday: The Packers blew a second-half lead and left Raymond James Stadium with a 38-28 loss that struck an unexpected blow to both their psyche and postseason prospects.

What should have been a gimme win turned into a shocking defeat that drops the Packers to 4-4 at the halfway point of the season and realistically knocks them out of the race for the NFC North Division title chase. Minnesota (7-1) in essence leads the Packers by four games because it swept their season series.

The Packers’ postseason hopes rest with the two wild-card playoff spots in an NFC in which they are tied with Chicago and out of the running at the No. 8 position. Although after losing to Tampa Bay, which was the league’s lone winless team coming into the weekend, the playoffs shouldn’t even be on this team’s radar.

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“It’s discouraging,” nose tackle Ryan Pickett said. “It’s tough. It’s going to be hard to watch the film. I hate even talking about it. It’s going to be a long flight home, going to be hard.”’

The defeat has to rank as one of the Packers’ worst since the team returned to prominence in 1992. The only comparable loss during that time was in the second of the back-to-back Super Bowl years, 1997, when 0-10 Indianapolis upset coach Mike Holmgren’s juggernaut 41-38. But at least that Packers team knew it was good — it was 8-3 after the defeat and coming off a Super Bowl win the previous January.

The Packers appeared ready to steamroll the Bucs the same way they did the other two bad teams they’d played, Detroit and Cleveland, after scoring on a 74-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers to James Jones on the game’s second play.

But ultimately, the Packers gave life to the mostly punchless Bucs, who came into the game ranked No. 30 in the NFL in scoring, by essentially handing them four touchdowns — two either scored or set up by huge special teams lapses, and two scored or set up by interceptions.

Coach Mike McCarthy insisted his team prepared diligently and did not look past the Bucs, who got rookie coach Raheem Morris his first NFL win.

“We did not take the team lightly at all because of the record,” McCarthy said. “ I was very concerned coming into this game. Any time (you play) a team coming off the bye week — if anything, we may have overworked (the players). That’s something I’ve got to look into. This is my responsibililty. We were not prepared to the level that we should have been.”

The Packers in many ways dominated and finished with significant edges in total yards (404 to 279) and time of possession (35:17 to 24:43).

But they gave up one touchdown when personal protector John Kuhn’s blown assignment gave Geno Hayes a free run to block Jeremy Kapinos’ second-quarter punt, which Ronde Barber returned for a 31-yard score. A second special teams gaffe set up another when Clifton Smith returned a third-quarter kickoff 83 yards.

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Quarterback Aaron Rodgers also had one his worst days in 1½ seasons as a starter (57.6 passer rating, six sacks, three interceptions) despite putting up 28 points and throwing for 266 yards. He came into the game with only two interceptions but threw three Sunday, two of which were especially costly.

The first, when he didn’t see cornerback Elbert Mack drop into the safety spot, set up Tampa Bay at the Packers’ 8.

The second ended a drive deep in Tampa Bay territory when he threw into triple coverage and Aqib Talib intercepted the deflection.

Rodgers' third interception came on a fourth down in the final minute of the game, when his last-ditch effort to tie or take the lead ended with a tipped ball that safety Tanard Jackson returned for the touchdown that sealed the game with 35 seconds left.

“I hope we have the resolve and leadership to get through something like this,” Rodgers said. “It’s disappointing. But it’s one loss. We’re 4-4, we still have eight games left. A lot can happen.”

The Packers also had a little trouble with the Bucs’ rookie quarterback, Josh Freeman, who wasn’t particularly productive (86.1 passer rating, 14-for-31 passing, 205 yards), but had no meltdowns in the first significant playing time of his NFL career. The first-round draft pick threw only one interception. At 6-foot-6 and 248 pounds, he showed good strength and mobility in avoiding the Packers’ pass rush (20 yards on four scrambles, one sack).

Freeman also made two huge plays on the Bucs’ game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter: He converted a third down with a pass to Michael Clayton over cornerback Al Harris for a 29-yard gain, and threw the game-winning touchdown on fourth-and-4 from the 7 with a well-placed fade to Sammie Stroughter over dime back Jarrett Bush that put the Bucs ahead 31-24 with 4:14 to play.

“This has to hurt us so bad that we can’t never ever play like this again,” Pickett said. “That’s the only way we’re going to turn it around. If we don’t, we’re going to have a long year. If players aren’t motivated to come out and play next week, wrap it up. This hurts. This is the lowest point.”